Our Commitments

Our ultimate purpose

Principle 1 of our Constitution describes how his ultimate purpose for the business was to balance the happiness of all its members, through their worthwhile and satisfying employment in a successful business. He believed that because the Partnership is owned in trust for its members, they share the responsibilities of ownership as well as its rewards – profit knowledge and power.

Today we still work towards his goal and have created three Commitments to help us bring Principle 1 to life. These Commitments are three statements which cover responsibility, relationships and influence.

The Commitments

The Commitments are explained below with examples. 

Take responsibility for our business success

We take responsibility to deliver the right experience for all our customers and generate profits for us all to share.

Partners: Partners from the Victoria head office responded to a special call for help from the John Lewis Oxford Street branch, after snow stopped many Partners getting to work. Up to 100 Victoria Partners postponed their usual work and made their way to Oxford Street to help out their colleagues in the branch for the day instead assisting with a range of tasks from wrapping

purchases to stocking shelves. The extra hands helped the flagship store to continue trading during a crucial period in the run-up to Christmas. 'It was one of those moments that demonstrated the genuine commitment Partners have to our business and how co-ownership makes a difference,' said Tom Beamond, Manager, Selling Branch Policy and Procedures.  'Our flagship branch needed help and Victoria Partners willingly downed tools to go there.' Head Office Partners

The Partnership: In March 2012 the Partnership redistributed £165.2m million of profit to Partners - money that in most other companies would go straight to external shareholders instead. This represented more than 7 weeks' pay. Partnership Bonus

Build relationships powered by our principles

We build relationships based on honesty, respect and encouragement. We expect these behaviours of each other and demonstrate them at all times.

Partners: More than 100 Partners, customers and children spent the night in John Lewis High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, after heavy snow caused gridlock on local roads. Deborah Strazza, who was Managing Director of the store at the time, said customers and staff had become stranded after the snow began falling in mid-afternoon. The 54 Partners, about 30 adult

customers and 20 children were provided with food and a bed in the bed department. Deborah, who was also stranded, said: 'There was no way that I was going to throw customers out into that, or my own Partners, so we just had to make use of what we had got. Basically, we made up the beds and they all snuggled down in the bed department. The kids absolutely loved it. They thought they were in Toy Story. The customers were really, really grateful and they could not thank us enough.' Partners in John Lewis High Wycombe

The Partnership: All Partners - more than 81,000 of us - have a say in how the Partnership is run. Giving our Partners a voice is central to the principles of co-ownership, and we engage their views and opinions in a number of ways, including the annual Partner Survey. Recently we consulted with over a hundred Partners on what they wanted the new Partner Survey to contain.
The new Survey is based on our Commitments and it will help us to measure how well we are delivering on them for Partners. Partnership Survey

Create real influence over our working lives

We take every opportunity to develop ourselves, balance work and life priorities and support each other.

Partners: Rob Lowe's experience as a former farmer is a valuable asset in his Waitrose branch, where customers can call on his past experience. 'For 30 years, I worked on my family's 84-acre farm in Cheshire, where we had cows, pigs and hens, and grew vegetables and cereals. But I'd also always wanted to run my own shop - and, after being a farmer, I had a greengrocer's shop for 14 years

where my experience of growing vegetables was invaluable. 'Then, six years ago, I joined Waitrose Sandbach on the fruit and vegetables section. I also went to local schools to promote fresh produce and to encourage kids to try new things. Working for a large organisation like the Partnership was strange at first - I'd been my own boss since I left school - but I enjoy the variety of the job. Now, when someone in the branch has a question about fruit and veg, they'll say - 'ask Rob, he'll know!'' Rob Lowe, Waitrose Sandbach

The Partnership: Last year over 4,300 Partners claimed back over £350,000 against courses ranging from learning a new language and fitness instruction to bricklaying and yoga. The Partnership believes that supporting Partners to make their own decisions about how and what they want to continue learning is an important part of being a co-ownership. Leisure Learning